Market Commentary

Updated on November 16, 2017 10:38:14 AM EST

Last week’s unemployment figures were posted at 8:30 AM ET this morning, showing 249,000 new claims for unemployment benefits were filed last week. This higher than the previous week’s 239,000 new claims and exceeded forecasts of 234,000. That indicates the employment sector was a little weaker than thought last week, making the data favorable for bonds and mortgage rates. However, this is only a weekly snapshot, so its impact on today’s trading has been minimal.

Also posted this morning was Octobers Industrial Production report at 9:15 AM ET. It revealed a 0.9% rise in output at U.S. factories, mines and utilities when it was expected to increase 0.5%. That is a sign that manufacturing activity is rising, making the data negative for mortgage rates. Fortunately, this is also considered to only be a minor report, limiting its influence on today’s mortgage rates.

The week’s calendar closes with Octobers Housing Starts early tomorrow morning. This report gives us a measurement of housing sector strength, but usually does not have a noticeable impact on mortgage rates. I dont expect this months version to be any different unless it varies greatly from analysts forecasts. It is expected to show an increase in starts of new homes, meaning the new home portion of the housing sector strengthened last month.